ABSTRACT
A pavement can be considered thermally stress-free at a given temperature. The top surface of the pavement is exposed to the weather. Hence, the pavement surface temperature undergoes variations with the variation of the weather conditions. The ambient air temperature adjacent to the pavement may be assumed to be varying in a sinusoidal pattern with 24 hours as the cycle length. The restraints cause hindrances to the free movement of the slab due to temperature change. The resistance provided by the restraints may have finite limits; hence, the slab may become partially restrained. The self-weight of the slab, the hypothetical springs and the bending due to temperature profile determine the final shape and subsequently the overall stress in the pavement. Simple formulations for computation of thermal stress for concrete pavement has been presented in the chapter. Formulas or charts for estimation of thermal stress are available in various documents and guidelines.
